YouTube

Instead of just issuing takedown notices to those gamers that hoped to share Nintendo content on YouTube, the company has decided to launch a "Creators Program" this week. Instead of aiming to take down all content or take control of all revenue, Nintendo has started a program which aims to share revenue. This program requires that content sharers register with Nintendo and report every video they share - or they can share their entire channel if it's entirely Nintendo-based. Then there's a 3-day wait period.

It seems like Sony is putting to rest a few of its services, probably much to the dismay and even worry of its customers. Hot on the heels of an announcement that will swap out its Music Unlimited service for a Spotify-powered PlayStation Music, the tech giant is now announcing the impending shtudown of two PS Vita apps, Maps and YouTube. It isn't saying exactly why it is doing so and, in at least one case, isn't offering a replacement.

The latest Snapchat news is a bit weird, to understate things. The company is apparently on the prowl to attract entertainment entities, as it'll be shoving a new series of sorts into users' feeds soon: SnapperHero. This series will be comprised of several short video episodes starring popular users from Vine and YouTube as superheroes; Snapchat won't actually be involved in the creation process. A couple studios will be taking care of that part, and oddly enough, AT&T will be helping foot the bill.

Further driving the obsolescence of technology like Flash, Google is announcing that YouTube will default to using HTML5 video by default, at least on the most recent versions of major browsers. While it might take some time before the web is truly rid of Flash, it is a brave move forward especially for a service that is absolutely reliant on the smooth and flawless delivery of multimedia content. It also shows how much the web has grown up to replace the benefits once provided only by the likes of Flash.

The team-up that many have been waiting for is happening at long last. The NFL and Google have signed up a deal that will bring the upcoming SuperBowl XLIX front and center in Google's world. But don't get the wrong idea. The deal in place only covers search results, clips, and, of course, ads, with revenue being shared by the two. Official NFL content must still be consumed from NFL's own source or partners, with Google providing only a teaser and a gateway to the Super Bowl world.

The originator and sole owner of the imageboard/messageboard 4chan has announced this week that he's about to retire. Chris Poole, otherwise known as moot, suggests that this changing of the guard will not make a big difference to the millions of users of 4chan, one of the world's largest online communities. Today a Q&A session will be taking place for the 4chan community - and the rest of the inquisitive internet - to take part in. This session begins at 1PM Central Time, January 23rd, 2015.

Remember Ello? Not until you just read that, I bet. The ‘Facebook killer’ social network was ad-free, and a bit of fun for a week or so. Various brands latched onto it as a new medium to share themselves with the world, with its stripped-down interface and stark indifference to social as we know it. A big selling point for Ello was ads, where none existed. According to the founders, none would, either. Until today, with the rollout of video and music on Ello.

This week the team at video-hosting company Vessel will begin their Beta. This Beta will be behind a line of users - a popular way to get people to get interested in your service these days - and eventually content will be behind a paywall. Videos on Vessel will be hosted for the public like YouTube or Vimeo, but there's a new concept onboard as well: a 72-hour exclusive window. For 72 hours before anyone else on the web is able to see, content creators will put their video up on Vessel for paying-only users.

When it comes tasks like cooking, humans naturally know all the little steps that are required for doing something as simple as taking a cup out of the cabinet and filling it with milk. Robots on the other hand have to be taught all the little motions and steps like opening and closing cabinet doors, setting the cup down, opening the milk, pouring, and then closing the milk and putting it away.

The Super Bowl is known for its (sometimes) amusing advertisements, and they tend to rake in the viewers -- both during the show and afterward on YouTube, where many go to re-watch their favorite ads and others go to catch the ones they missed. YouTube isn't letting this Super Bowl advertisement lust go to waste this year, and has revealed that it will be offering its own halftime show, which will be starring the service's own top stars. The halftime show will include fake Super Bowl advertisements, and the entire ordeal will be streamed live on the video service during the Super Bowl next month.

HTC's periscope-shaped Re is getting a firmware update, adding YouTube live streaming to turn the camera curiosity into a mobile broadcast tool. The software - which will be pushed out initially through the Google Play store - updates the Re companion app which runs on the paired smartphone. HTC is envisioning the enhanced camera as being used to beam performances and school plays to distant grandparents, or to make friends green with envy by showing them your scuba diving.

Back in November, Twitter confirmed that it would be launching its own video service akin to YouTube as part of its growth strategy. While a launch date wasn't specified, other than sometime in the first half of 2015, details about the service were skim to say the least. That is until recently, when Twitter user Daniel Raffel noticed a FAQ page for the video service was already available, revealing a number of details including file types supported and just how it plans to directly compete with YouTube.